Sunday, June 24, 2012

Updates Post Vulvar Vestibulectomy Surgery 6 months

Hi Everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything. I continued physical therapy until the end of April and since then have been too busy to continue. I now do some stretching exercises a few times a week using a latex glove and a little lidocaine gently stretching the vaginal opening. Sometimes sex is 90% or more painless!!! This is great! The new lidocaine gel prescription seems to be working much better than the old variety I was using. The best (most pain free) time of the month seems to be a week after my period ends up until a week before it begins. After that it seems to be more painful and I'm not sure if that has to do with changing hormones or levels or discharge. I always put lidocaine on the irritated area at least 5 minutes before intercourse and I will just keep doing what I'm doing for now. After another month or two of really pin pointing the days when I have the most pain during intercourse, I will bring it up with my obgyn at my annual. I am fully healed from surgery and there is no noticeable difference in the area. I also am staying away from birth control pills for now and have only been using condoms which works well for the time being.

Sorry I have not been responding to comments... I set it up so I am supposed to receive emails every time someone posts but it seems many of them are ending up in my spam folder. Thanks for reading and I will update as soon as anything changes.

There is still some discomfort around the vestibule but definitely less than before. I've been bad about using dilators lately and stretching down there, but I find that things are much better when I do on a regular basis. I also think that it changes throughout the month so I wonder if hormones play a role in how acidic vaginal discharge is. I'm going to look into dietary options for neutralizing discharge and I think water consumption is going to play a big role in that.

Hi there! I am currently using Lidocaine 3% gel but I'm not sure what the base is and that I think is what made the most difference. I will ask my pharmacist to see if he can give me the name. Overall I do think surgery was worth it but I think it's very important to work with a doctor who has done it before and makes you feel confident. I also think it's important to note the different ways this surgery can be done and that I only had a small amount of tissue removed. I also have to say that physical therapy made a HUGE difference after surgery and I highly recommend it once if not twice a week (once the area is healed at about 6weeks+). I found my muscles really tightening up after the procedure. It was really a combination of treatments that helped me but the surgery definitely had a big impact.

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I'm Glad You're Here!

Welcome to my new blog! I am a 21 year old woman suffering with Vulvar Vestibulitis (aka. vestibulodynia) and I have been for 3.5 years. I'm here to share my struggle and answer any of your questions. The most important thing I've learned so far on this journey is that you are not alone if you are affected by this condition. So many women struggle with it and some don't even know that they have it! I'm getting surgery in the near future and I plan to blog about the recovery process for those considering the same option. If you have any questions please email me @ mylifewithvvs@gmail.com